New plans

Now I need new plans.

I need to meet with my brothers.

My general idea is to take over my father's mercenaries to gather military power.

I could just declare myself Decrea's chosen one and that would give me a stable position.

But I know where that leads.

Repeating the same actions and expecting something different is the first sign of madness.

The problem is that my father's mercenaries don't respect me for my level of power.

Even though I have a perfect core and am progressing quite fast in the refinement process, I am still a blue core.

This will lead nowhere.

I have no trading skills, so there is no point in trying.

I'm not cunning enough to get into the city's underworld.

So I'll ask my father for advice.

I don't know what else to do. In my previous life, I never expected to find myself in situations like this.

The only thing I have experience in is leading soldiers.

Training them and giving them experience. That's what I did with many Inquisitors in my previous life.

That's why I go to my father's study now.

I knock on the door and enter when I am given permission.

My father is still sitting there, as erect and commanding as ever.

As I entered, he looked up and I noticed that there was no longer any hostility in his eyes.

"I apologize for disturbing you, Father, but I seek your advice," I say in a respectful voice.

My tone is not a lie. It turns out that I finally gave up and asked Elijah for my father's identity. He was a very powerful army general who served under King Azrath. His name is Blake Sila Infersa Runa.

The man was a very powerful orange core, but one day he was killed by the papal guards while trying to kill the pope.

This injury weakened his core and he ended up as a troop administrator. Today, he is retired and only manages family affairs. He teaches military strategy to my brother Derius and administration and politics to the heir, Feilan.

He taught me nothing, for I could not learn.

"What do you need my advice on?" he said in a very serious voice.

Looking at him I asked "Father, I want to create a stable position in the kingdom but I cannot depend on the mercenaries I want to join. So I want to look for options to move. Don't worry father, I'm not doing this because I want to compete with my brothers, it's just that if my position as an apostle of Decrea is revealed I need to secure my place".

I lowered my head because I am asking for a favour.

My father looked at me, for a long 5 minutes during which he said nothing.

"Well, I'll give you some advice," he finally said and opened one of the drawers.

"My advice is to only pursue what you are good at. Elijah tell me what you're doing so I know you're good at training troops. I will give you 330 Dryssic soldiers. 300 without rank and 30 with a violet core. It will be your duty to train them and you can use them as you please. My advice is to use them to increase your wealth and use the Rune surname to increase the amount of recruits you will have. You could split a part of the violet cores and affiliate them to the monster hunters, there is a good demand for the monster materials. The rest you can use to distribute small attacks on humans and loot them."

When he finished speaking I took my time to ponder everything he said as he went back to his papers.

It is feasible and it is the only logical thing to do. The Runa surname carries a lot of weight in the military so those interested in potential recruits. The only problem is the economics and maybe that's why father pointed it out.

I don't have enough money.

While I may be considered rich, what I want is an elite troop. These men will live through hell itself and if they survive they will demand high pay.

I currently have about 2000 gold coins.

The salary of a private in the army is about 10 silver coins per month.

But elite troops usually have salaries of 1 gold coin per month.

Of course, I still have time to make my troops elite, but if I do, my wealth will only last for 6 months.

And then my troops will be gone.

"I accept what you offer me, Father. I will not disappoint you."

"I don't think you will. Otherwise, I would not entrust you with this task. But remember, whatever you do, these troops are yours and not mine. Use them as you see fit." He said and motioned for me to step back.

Good, now I can formulate the training.

I went back to my room and began to write. I wrote for several hours until I fell asleep.

When I got up the next day, I washed up and went to ask Elijah to assemble the troops the Count had ordered.

I move and arrive at the training ground with Elijah at my side. He is an experienced warrior, so it is good that he is here.

Looking ahead, I see that the entire yard is filled with 500 men lined up in rows.

They may look organized, but many of them are slouching and not alert. They could easily be killed.

Elijah, standing next to me, saw these men and raised his voice.

"Soldiers, fall in and salute your commander, Lord Marcus Runa!" At his call, some of the soldiers were startled and stood awkwardly.

They had to be beaten until they obeyed.

"Salute to the commander!" all the men shouted in unison.

"Soldiers, you know my name and my identity. General Blake Runa has entrusted you to me. And from now on, you will follow my orders without hesitation. Anyone who disobeys will be punished for insubordination," I said, my voice emotionless.

The soldiers looked at me, some with admiration, some with respect, some with envy and some with mockery.

But they all replied, "Yes, Commander!"

"First, let's get a few things straight. You will all be divided according to your rank. The troops will be divided into platoons of 10 men of no rank under the command of 1 man with a purple core. Every fourth platoon will form a squad that will be in charge of the first men to reach the blue core. The unranked men who advance to the purple core may take over the remaining unranked platoons. In addition, their pay will increase from 10 silver to 15 for unranked and from 15 to 20 for purple cores. Blue cores will receive 30 silver coins per month."

"I will now divide them into their divisions."

I spent about 1 hour organizing them, and when I finished, they were left in groups with 1 man in front and 5 in the back, waiting for orders.

They are more motivated by the competition and the increase in pay.

"Now the training begins. You may die, but now you have the chance to get out. The one who leaves the training will be punished with 10 lashes on the back, according to the punishment for military insubordination".

Now the soldiers hesitated. The punishment seems harsh, but they still want the money.

None of them left.

"Well, since none of them has left, let us begin. Turn to the right and you will see boxes with weights. All soldiers without rank will take 40 kilos on their backs and the violet core will take 100.

The soldiers equipped themselves. 100 kilos for a Violet Core is quite a lot, as well as 40 for an ordinary Drysicc.

Even though these lesser elves are more powerful than humans, they are still not gods.

"You will all begin to condition the body at ease. Whoever stops will be punished, and whoever complains will be punished. Start with the basics. I want you to run at full speed around the perimeter of the mansion for three hours. Elijah and I will control and monitor you."

The soldiers looked at me as if to say, "This is the hard training we were going to stop for?" And they ran away.

This is just the beginning. Soon they will wish they had never been born